By Martin Banks - 6th March 2008
The contribution women can make to rebuilding "shattered communities’ is not being harnessed.
That was the keynote message of Benita Ferrero-Waldner on Thursday at the opening of a major international conference in Brussels.
The EU external affairs commissioner said, “Too often women's potential as peacemakers, as mediators, as the re-builders of shattered communities, is not harnessed.
“All humanity loses out if women are not empowered to play their part in building stability in our insecure world. The challenges to human security cannot be tackled without the contribution women make.”
She added, “That is where we, as women whose voices count, have a role to play. We must rise to the challenge and push for change – for if we don’t, who will?”
The Austrian official said one of the main issues on the conference agenda includes the impact on women can make on “new threats” to security, ranging from climate change to international crime and religious fundamentalism and terrorism.
She said the one-day event would also seek to establish what “concrete” steps can we take to increase women’s contribution to human security at a local level.
“In today’s world good mediators are more vital than ever,” she added.
“We cannot afford to ignore this potential source of expertise. Women should be empowered to make their full contribution at the peace table and in post-conflict reconstruction.”
More than 50 international women leaders will attend the conference, being held at the commission’s Berlaymont headquarters on the eve of International Women’s Day.
They include heads of state, ministers and American secretary of state Condoleeeza Rice, who is in Brussels to also attend a meeting of foreign ministers at Nato.
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